Monday, July 28, 2014

AC/DC singer to drive in UK race event



AC/DC singer Brian Johnson will drive a mini in a race this coming weekend in his native UK.

The Journal reports Johnson is set to take part in the Nostalgia Weekend at the Croft motor racing circuit near Darlington, a venue he used to visit in the 1960s to watch MG racing.

He will be racing in a mini at the fifth Croft nostalgia event.

“I was 17-and-a-half when I got my first car – a Ford Popular, sit-up-and-beg style and with only three gears,” says the rocker. “That August, I was in my home village of Dunston near Gateshead with not much to do, when somebody said there was racing on at Croft – so on a rainy day and with just one windscreen wiper on this Popular, myself and two friends headed down there. We drove straight past the lady on the gate because we couldn’t afford to buy tickets.”

“Having got my initial taste of live motor racing at Croft, I jumped at the chance to race at the Nostalgia Weekend,” Johnson continued. “I was recently one of the drivers in a Porsche 911 that finished first-in-class and 20th overall at the Le Mans Classic, but it’ll be quite a departure from that car’s big fat tires and rear wing to the little Mini I’ll be driving this weekend!”

“As a circuit,” he added, “Croft is a complete step into the unknown for me and I’ve been told it’s quite a challenge, so I’m fully expecting a big learning curve and to get my backside royally kicked by the Nostalgia regulars! Hopefully, the test day beforehand will help me to get up to some kind of speed ahead of the racing – it should be a fun weekend and I’m really looking forward to it.”

Earlier this month, Johnson received an Honorary Doctor of Music degree from Northumbria University in Newcastle upon Tyne.

The degree recognizes the significant contribution Johnson has made to the music industry as lead singer of one of the world’s most successful rock bands for the past three decades.

Watch video from the ceremony here.

Johnson recently revealed that AC/DC have completed the recording of a new album in Vancouver over the past two months without founding member Malcolm Young, who remains on a break to address some health issues.

Learn more news about the project here.



See also:

AC/DC’s Highway To Hell marks 35th anniversary
Rare AC/DC debut single sells for almost $4,500
AC/DC drummer releases debut solo single Repo Man
AC/DC drummer to release debut solo album
Search AC/DC at hennemusic